Wilson p



l(No Model.)

W. P. DODSON. Railroad Switch. No. 233.605. Patented Oct. 26,1880.

.toriz ey..

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILSON P. DODSON, OF PHILADELPHIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TOALEXANDER H. EGE, OF MEGHANIOSBURG, PA.

'RAILROAD-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 233,605, dated October26, 1880.

Application tiled March 17, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILSON P. DoDsoN, of

the city of Philadelphia, and State of Penn-l sylvania, have invented aSafety-Switch for Railroads; and I hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and correct description of the same, reference being' hadto the accompanying drawing making part of this specitication, which isa plan of my switch.

[o The nature of the present invention consists in an improvement inrailroad-switches, as hereinafter more fully set forth, the object ofthe invention being so to construct a switch that a train running ineither direction will r 5 not run off the track, no matter how theswitch may be set.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the construction and operation ot' the zo same.

For convenience of description, I shall designate the course toward thesiding as-down, and the contrary up, and the lateral directions rightand left, as shown in the draw- A B show the rails of the main line ofthe road, which, at the sidin g, diverge, one following the course ofthe road, the other the line of the siding.

G D show two frogs inserted in and between these rails, from whichextend the rails E F. These parts are all permanently fixed in position,and constitute the carrying-rails of the switch.

Gr H show guard-rails, placed between the rails of the main line whichare attached together at each end, and which are connected, by rods I K,to the bar L, which has cranks in opposite directions, so as to giveopposite 4o motions to the opposite ends of the guardrails.

Such being the construction, the operation is as follows: It is plainthat Without the guard-rails a car going up the main line or 45 thesiding will either continue on or pass onto the main line, and that acar coming down the main line will pass on direct or onto the siding,according as its leading wheels (No model.)

may bear upon the one or the other of the track-rails, and that ineither case it will pass 5o without shock and will remain on' the rails.

If the bar L be turned so as to move the upper ends of the guard-railsto the left and the lower ends to the right, as shown in the drawings, acar-truck passing down the track will have its leading wheels drawn tothe right by the lower end of the right-hand guardrail and its followingwheels drawn to the left by the upper end of the left-hand guard-rail,and its direction thus so positively deterlnined 6o by the movement ofboth its ends that its leading left-hand wheel will be caused to bearhard upon the rail on that side and the truck will certainly pass uponthe siding. A change of the positions of the guard-rails by a halfturnof the bar L will reverse this action and cause the truck to pass uponthe main line, while a car going up either the main line or the sidingwill pass on without obstruction by the guard-rails. 7o-

Of preference, I use both the connections to the guard-rails as forminga more secure fastening, using, also, a pivoted fastening, il' desired,for greater firmness, of which an instance is shown at M 5 but I canoperate the 75 guard-rails by a connection attached to either end,moving the other ends by means of the pivots.

As there will be some wear upon the points of the frogs these parts maybe made in sepa- 8o rate pieces,so that they can easily be removed andreplaced; or, if preferred, the intermediate rails may be pointed andthemselves form the frogs.

I claim as my invention- In combination with fixed carrying-rails, apair of guard-rails arranged to be vibrated horizontally upon centers ator near their middle part, whereby an operative adjustment of both endsof the same is attained, substan- 9o tially as and for the purposespecified.

WILSON P. DODSON.

Witnesses SAME. P. HANsoN, GEORGE Ho'UsE.

